Caring Robots in an Aging World

A lecture with guest speaker Shawn Bender, Ph.D.

4-5:30pm Thur., Nov. 6, 2025, AOK Library Gallery, UMBC

Inductive Analysis of Texts with Embeddings

Prof. Dustin Stoltz, Lehigh University

Word or text embeddings are a central component in modern language models, including those powering generative AI. Embeddings represent word meanings as positions in space, where words that are closer together are used in similar contexts or evoke similar concepts -- even if those words never actually co-occur. We navigate the meaning space created by embeddings directly using basic arithmetic, and in doing so, explore how meaning changes overtime or how meaning differs between different collections of texts. 

Dustin Stoltz is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Cognitive Science at Lehigh University.  He studies a variety of topics in cultural and economic sociology and specializes in computational methods.  Five copies of his recently published book, Mapping Texts: Computational Text Analysis for the Social Sciences (coauthored with Marshall Taylor), will be raffled off to workshop registrants.  

Register here.

Lunch will be provided for registered attendees.

Hosted by the Center for Social Science Scholarship and cosponsored by the Departments of English; Sociology, Anthropology, & Public Health; Modern Languages, Linguistics, & Intercultural Communication; the Division of Information Technology; the Center for Scalable Data and Computational Science; and CGC-SCIPE.

Shahin Hossain, a PhD student in Language, Literacy, and Culture, is conducting a research study on how undergraduate students use generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, and the impact on their writing. The goal is to better understand how these advanced technologies are changing writing practices and behavior.

Current UMBC undergraduate students who have used AI technologies for academic purposes in their writing are invited to complete an online survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes.

Students can get more information and access the survey here.

Dr. Reetam Majumder from the University of Arkansas will lead a three-hour short course on AI for statistical analysis from 2:00 to 5:00 pm on Friday, October 31, 2025, in room 104 of UMBC's Math & Psychology building. The course will provide a hands-on introduction to deep learning models using the Keras package in R.

Register here by October 24.

Deep learning is the cornerstone of all current AI models. While they have historically been used extensively in supervised and unsupervised learning problems, deep learning is also seeing increased adoption for statistical inference associated with complex/intractable models, massive datasets, or both. The short course will provide a hands-on introduction to deep learning models using the keras package in R.

The course aims to familiarize statisticians with the entire pipeline for analyzing data, including software setup, data preprocessing, and some common neural network architectures used in predictive modeling for different data types like tables, images, and time series. Participants will also be introduced to deep learning approaches for density estimation and parameter estimation in statistical problems, and an overview of the current state-of-the-science. 

The hands-on sections will be demonstrated on Google Colab, and participants will be able to follow along on their own personal devices. Course materials, including code, data, slides, and resources for installing the Keras and Torch deep learning libraries on R, will be made available on GitHub.

AI as Your Design Sidekick is a free, hands-on, interdisciplinary workshop for founders, designers, and programmers interested in applying AI tools effectively and responsibly. It will be held 5:30-7:30pm on Thursday, October 23, 2025, in the UMBC Imaging Research Center. 

Sponsored by bwtech@UMBC and the UMBC Arts+ Initiative, the event invites students and researchers from all disciplines to explore how AI can enhance innovation, from startup development to web design and technical workflows. The event will include 

• DIY methods for improving your website and content workflows with AI

• SEO and marketing optimization strategies using AI

• Ethical and creative integration of AI across design and tech pipelines

• Live demos, free resources, and discussion on how to stay competitive while keeping human creativity at the center.

• Free food, a raffle for a year of ChatGPT Plus, and a paid internship opportunity.

Register here.

Reserve a seat and get the WebEx llnk by registering here.

This second session builds on Dr. Shumacher's first session.  Slides and a video of that session are available here.

UMBC's Department of Mathematics and Statistics will hold a teaching circle series on "Active Learning and In-class Assessment in the Age of AI", moderated by Professor Manil Suri. The sessions will explore the pedagogical pitfalls and possibilities that new AI systems have opened up, with a focus on Math 200 and 300 level undergraduate courses.

The first session will be held 12-1pm on Monday, October 27, in 409 Sondheim Hall, with subsequent sessions on November 10 and December 8. Participants are encouraged to share their own AI-related classroom experiences at the first meeting.

Get more information and register for the October session here.